Group aims to give Mother's Kitchen in New Haven a second helping (video)

NEW HAVEN -- Euannie Catnott no longer owns the property housing Mother's Kitchen, a Jamaican restaurant in West River she has run there since 1995, but a neighborhood group hopes to work out some kind of partnership to keep her in business.

In a foreclosure sale Saturday, Pension Services, LLC, the lender she tapped in 2006 so she could fix a leaking roof and make other repairs, was the only bidder on the 16 Norton St. commercial site near the corner of Derby Avenue.

She owed $85,777 and Pension Services, which set a minimum bid of $101,500 for the property, will take it over when the deal is closed in 30 days.

"There is hope. Things look better than they were before," said Jerry Poole, who is part of the West River Self Help Investment Plan, which did not know Catnott's situation until recently.

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It was too late to stop the foreclosure, Poole said, but now that a number of other debts attached to the property are cleared, the situation is less formidable.

Catnott, already in debt before the economic downturn in 2008, has been losing money at an accelerated rate since then as business dropped of as customers faced belt-tightening of their own.

In addition to the mortgage, she was behind $135,000 in taxes owed to the state, federal government and the city. The city is in line to get its $8,458 in real estate taxes and the Internal Revenue Services has six months to redeem the $31,055 it is owed.

Remaining debtors never responded to the Superior Court to press their case, said attorney Nicholas Troiano, appointed by the court to oversee the auction.

"This is what it is all about. A neighborhood entity helping a neighborhood business," Poole said of a possible investment by SHIP in a partnership with Catnott. "I'm more optimistic now."

Separate from this is a Feb. 15 foreclosure action against Catnott on the three-family house she owns on Chapel Street, which they also plan to look into.

Poole said they advised Catnott not to attend the auction as the situation has left her in despair; she could not be reached Monday.

"I told her, the main thing is to know that you have people around you that are going to help. You are not alone," Poole said he told Catnott, 68, who has supported countless relatives here and in Jamaica with proceeds from her spicy cooking since she emigrated 23 years ago.

SHIP grew out of the West River Neighborhood Revitalization Plan some 15 years ago. It's based on the initiative started by the Rev. Leon H. Sullivan in Philadelphia in 1962 aimed at economic emancipation of African Americans, where private individuals pool contributions for investment in their neighborhoods.

"We saw the need for us to help ourselves," Poole said, who is looking for others interested in helping Catnott to come forward.

John Fitzpatrick, vice president of the nonprofit West River Neighborhood Service Corp., said the group is a potential partner with SHIP as they work with Catnott.

Jorge Lopes, former treasurer with SHIP, said after he read of Catnott's situation, "We felt we had to make some sort of effort to see what we can do. ... Once I started telling folks about it, more and more wanted to get onboard, or at least they wanted more information."

Previously, 16 Norton St. was home to Lanny's, a restaurant where people came together to form the West River Neighborhood Association some 25 years ago.

That led to the revitalization plan, Poole said, which included West River Memorial Park, an upgrade for Barnard School and a development proposal for the Route 34 corridor. The park and school plans are in place and progress is being made on the long-term vision for the corridor.

Fitzpatrick, who lives on the same block as Catnott, who is known simply as "Mother" to her customers, said: "This restaurant is one of the best things the neighborhood has going for it. The food is really, really good."

Paulette Reid, Catnott's daughter, who helps at the restaurant, said the next step is up to her mother, but she is a little more hopeful.

Stacy Spell, president of the neighborhood corporation, said if Mother's closes, "It will leave a big void. It has always been a mainstay of our community and one of the few places that attracts people from outside the community. We already have enough boarded up storefronts. We don't need another."